


Siblings and Secrets

by TheDarkChocolateLord



Series: Keeptober 2020 [1]
Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkChocolateLord/pseuds/TheDarkChocolateLord
Summary: Biana wants to know what's going on when Alden and Fitz sneak off and don't come back for hours. Canon compliant. Written for Keeptober 2020 for the prompt 'Keeper of the Lost Cities'.
Series: Keeptober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973125
Kudos: 2





	Siblings and Secrets

"Fitz is with your father...they wouldn't tell me where they were going," Della explains.

"Fitz said he'd play hide-and-seek with me!" Biana argues.

"I know, honey," Della sighs. "Listen, let me finish reading this report on the merfolk migration, and then we can go to Atlantis, okay? I know you've been wanting to stop by the pet store there, and I need to run a few errands."

"Claws, Horns, Wings, and Things?" Biana grins; she's been wanting to go there for  _ weeks.  _ They have all kinds of awesome animals. "Can we look at the murcats?"

"Definitely. Give me ten minutes, okay?"

"'Kay," Biana says as she leaves the room.

_ She'll look back on that, years later, and wonder why neither of them asked more questions, why neither of them asked what the two of them were doing when they snuck off together. _

"Can I come too?" Biana asks as Fitz follows Alden and Quinlin into Alden's office.

"Not right now," her father tells her.

"But I'm seven, and Fitz started helping you with your project when he was six! I'm old enough!"

"This is really a three-person thing," her father explains. "There's no reason to worry." 

The door shuts in her face.

Biana gulps down the last of her lushberry juice and places the bottle against the door, then places her ear against the bottle; maybe, just maybe, she'll be able to hear them….

"Biana, spying isn't going to tell you anything," Della calls from across the room. "Trust me, I know how soundproof that office is."

Sighing, Biana abandons her post and turns to Livvy. "Livvy, do you know what they're doing?"

Livvy shakes her head. "Quinlin keeps most of his work classified."

"But how come Fitz knows and I don't if it's Emissary stuff?" Biana wonders.

"I don't know any better than you do," Della sighs.

"Well, if they're going to exclude us we might as well have more fun than them," Livvy says with a grin as she stands up from the couch. "Does anyone else feel like making custard bursts?"

"Definitely—chocolate and carmel?" Della suggests.

"Awesome," Biana admits. "That's my favorite."

"Mine, too," Livvy grins as she heads for the kitchen. "Let's get baking."

_ She'll look back on that, years later, and wonder why her mom knows that her father's office is soundproof, whether any of them missed any signs about what her father and Fitz were up to. _

"Fitz!" Biana stops her brother in the hallway. "Why're you home so late? You missed dinner."

Up close, Fitz looks  _ really  _ worn out, like he just got back from intense Foxfire prep sessions mixed with an hour-long bramble game.

"I was at Keefe's?" her brother suggests, eyes darting around the hallway.

"Keefe always comes here and you know it." Biana crosses her arms. "C'mon, tell me!"

"Biana, it's almost your bedtime—have you brushed your teeth?" Alden calls from downstairs.

Ignoring her father, Biana reels on Fitz. "You've been disappearing without telling me why for  _ six and a half years _ , and I'm sick of it, sick of Dad trying to change the topic whenever I ask, sick of Mom telling me she doesn't know either, sick of Alvar ruffling my hair and telling me that I'll understand someday, sick of you disappearing at random times and coming back exhausted! What's going on that you aren't telling me?"

"I can't tell you," Fitz admits. "It's top secret."

"The Council doesn't really work with kids, so that can't be it," Biana argues. "And if it's not Council stuff,  _ what is it _ ?"

"I can't tell you," Fitz pleads. "Can you let me get to my room? I've got to finish my multispecial studies homework for Foxfire—it's due tomorrow. Level Two is harder than Level One."

"You never leave assignments late," Biana argues, but she lets her brother slip past, knowing that she won't get a real answer.

As Fitz walks by, he whispers, "I'm sick of it, too."

Then he's gone.

_ She'll look back on that, years later, and wonder, if Fitz had let it slip to her or to her mom, would it have stopped? _

"Sophie, this is my wife, Della, and my daughter, Biana," Alden explains.

It's the girl Alden and Fitz were looking for, the reason why her parents had a huge argument last night (she couldn't catch anything but  _ safety of our sons  _ and  _ Prentice  _ and  _ Forbidden Cities _ but she knew it wasn't good), the reason why she was constantly left out, the reason why Fitz was disappearing at crazy times and not telling her why, the reason why Fitz missed school sometimes and doesn't have any friends at Foxfire but Keefe.

The formality that's been drilled into her since she was a baby evaporates; she's gaping at the new girl as all the pieces click together and all she can say is "Is that my dress?"

  
  



End file.
